Storytelling in Documentary

Master Class - Ruby Yang

Academy Award Jury Member

Winner of Best Documentary Short at the 79th Academy Awards

President of the Jury for the SmallRig Awards

Everyone has their own way of making documentaries. I'm still figuring out mine.

Having spent most of her life making documentaries, Ruby Yang has always believed in one thing: "Self as Method." It's a phrase made popular by anthropologist Xiang Biao, and it fits her perfectly. Her work often begins with personal feelings and experiences, from which she shines a light on people who are often overlooked or misunderstood.

During her master class, Ruby spoke to the audience in a mix of Mandarin with a soft Cantonese accent and switched to English whenever the words didn't come easily. This blend of languages became a window into her identity — a reflection of someone who has lived across cultures.

Raised in Hong Kong and educated in the U.S., Ruby is acutely aware of what it means to feel like an outsider. In San Francisco, she rarely saw people who looked like her — black hair, yellow skin. No matter where she went in the United States, she was always "the other," someone under scrutiny, someone not fully accepted.

"Before social media, film was one of the only ways to really communicate with an audience — to spark identity and connection, especially for the Chinese community," she said. Instead of waiting for Americans to understand or accept Chinese people, she chose to tell their stories through film. As a Chinese filmmaker, she felt it was her responsibility to represent her community.

Another major thread in her work is her identity as someone from Hong Kong. Her breakout documentary, Citizen Hong Kong, tells the story of five individuals navigating life after the handover. For Ruby, the film was not just a portrait of a changing city. It was also a way for her to reflect on her own roots and give international audiences a deeper, more honest look at life in Hong Kong.

In 2004, she began filming The Blood of Yingzhou District, which marked a shift in her focus — from personal identity to the survival struggles of others, from ethnic identity to marginalized groups. She hoped her work could not only bridge cultures between East and West, but also act as a microphone — helping people "hear the quietest voices" and see hidden pain. To her, that's where real hope and change begin.

Over the course of nine months, The Blood of Yingzhou District followed families in Fuyang, Anhui Province, affected by AIDS, offering a detailed, intimate look at the lives of AIDS orphans. The film revealed the harsh realities these children faced and shed light on how discrimination often grows in the shadows of such tragedy.

Now, Ruby is partnering with SmallRig as the jury chairperson of the SmallRig Awards. Starting from her own identity, she's come to see how powerful documentaries can be when it comes to social impact.

She knows one film can't fix everything. But she believes deeply in the value of her work. Ethics, honesty, truth, and objectivity are at the heart of documentary filmmaking. These values give documentaries their power to create real social impact, and that's something every young creator should take seriously. A good documentary always stays true to these principles.

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